i hope it's you
by Topangamatthews
Summary: "It's not really a date if the girl goes home to her fiancé." She's the love of his life. He knows and he's willing to keep this crappy job to be close and wait for her. As long as it takes. (au based off jim and pam from 'the office')


_oh i hope it's you where every little path i'm takin' leads_

 _every back and forth and in between_

 _i hope it's you who's lovin' me_

 _-rusty clanton_

* * *

When he walked into the office on his first day of work, he saw her sitting at the reception desk, doodling something on a sticky note, her eyebrows pursed in concentration and her tongue swirling across her lips. He got closer to see what it was exactly she was working so hard on and he realized it was a caricature of his new boss, waving happily with an oversized smile and a speech bubble that read "I paid $200 for comedy lessons." She finally looked up at him and smirked before ripping the sticky note off of its pad and placing it in a folder on her desk, which by a quick glance of it, looked like it's filled with hundreds of other sketches just like it.

"You know you're actually very good. You should draw me next," he told her.

She scoffed, rolled her eyes and got up from her desk to tell Zay that the new guy arrived. Lucas spent the rest of day looking over at her at her desk, just a few feet away from him, and before he noticed the day had ended. He went to grab his coat but before he did he heard a "Hey Lucas" and turned around to find her standing behind him with a sticky note in her hand. She gave it to him and began to walk away, turning her head over her shoulder and showing him a small smile.

The note was a caricature of him, wearing his button down shirt and khakis, but drawn on him were cowboy boots and a ten gallon hat, complete with a speech bubble that said "Yeeee Haw!"

Underneath it simply said "Welcome to the office, partner. -Maya."

He decided maybe his new job wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Lucas hated the guy who sat with him at his desk. His name was Farkle and he wore an ugly brown blazer and matching pants every single day and when Lucas tried to make a joke about it, Farkle went straight to Zay's office to report him.

He told Maya about his newfound hatred when they were sitting in the break room together during lunch and she told him that no one liked him, he liked no one and he should just let it be.

But Lucas saw the way Farkle looked at the girl with the big, dark eyes in accounting and smiled at her. And he saw how she smiled back.

He kept it to himself.

* * *

Lucas realized one day that Maya spent most of her day listening to new music, so he spent an entire evening making a mix CD for her and he knew it was lame and she'd make fun of him for it, but he couldn't' resist. So he grabbed a sharpie and drew them as stick figures on the CD and he wrote "The Rock and Roll Adventures of Lucas and Maya" and put it in a clear case he went to Walmart for at two in the morning. And later that day, when he was sleep deprived and on his third cup of coffee, she went over to his desk and crouched down and hugged him and it was so awkward because he was sitting down and trying hard not to look at her chest, but her hair smelled like peaches and she felt warm, so he didn't mind the awkwardness as much.

Farkle reminded him that there shouldn't be any public displays of affection in the office.

"Well then you gotta stop being obvious about how in love you are with me." He winked at him for extra measure and didn't think anyone saw but later in the break room he saw Farkle and the girl with the dark eyes, Isadora, arguing and Farkle spat, "He means nothing to me!"

* * *

Maya began to fall asleep on him when they were in the pointless meetings they have every week.

The first time she fell asleep she was falling forward in her seat and he reached out his hand and caught her head in his palm just in time. But the week after that and the week after that, she just laid her head on his shoulder and dozed off, depending on him to wake her up once the meetings were over.

He started to look forward to them every week.

* * *

When he went to college and majored in Business, he didn't plan on becoming a salesman at an insignificant paper supply firm. He wanted to start his own athletic agency company, but he lacked the connections and financial support so a search online of available positions within his range of qualifications had landed him a job quickly. It wasn't his dream job, but he had found his dream _girl_.

Maya Hart was everything he never even knew he had wanted: sarcastic sense of humor, pint-sized and beautiful, creative and talented enough to be whatever she wanted to be. He

knew he had a crush on her, maybe even more. From the moment he had met her he knew and for months he went on waiting for the right moment to ask her out.

Then it happened.

As he was getting out of his car after having parked it in his now unofficial spot, he saw Maya on the tip of her toes kissing someone, probably six inches taller than her. He waved goodbye to her and went back to a black car that was parked somewhere near the front of the building. Lucas felt his pulse begin racing and a little lightheaded and was about to go back inside his car to sit down for a bit when he heard Maya call out his name and wave. He took deep breaths and faked a smile, trying his best to walk towards where she was waiting for him at the front of the building, without conveying that he felt seriously sick.

"So who was that," he asked, opening the door for her to walk through and then leading her to the elevator.

"That was Josh! I've told you about him," she rolled her eyes, pushing the button for the third floor.

"Yeah, you've mentioned him before, but I always thought he was a friend." It wasn't a lie. Every time Maya had mentioned Josh he had always thought he was just a really shitty friend. All the stories she had told him had made it seem that way. "One time Josh and a couple of our friends went skinny dipping and he took all our clothes so we had to walk a mile completely naked" or "Josh made me believe he had tickets for a really cool art show but it was just a hockey game he knew I wouldn't have agreed to."

"Lucas, he's my fiancé. We've been engaged for almost three years now."

Fiancé. Engaged. Not only was she taken, but she was completely, undeniably, in no circumstances ever going to get out of that. She was committed and he had been waiting around for a chance with her that was never going to come now. He began to feel sick again as they stepped out of the elevator and into the office space. She looked at him a little weird but then just proceeded to take off her coat and go to her desk. He went and sat at his, all the while stealing glances at Maya and cursing himself for being so stupid. The only reason he had stayed at this job that he hated so much for the past three months, with the annoying desk mate and unqualified boss, was because he felt that he could possibly have a future with Maya.

So what was he doing now?

* * *

"Are you leaving me," she asked him loudly, slamming a few sheets of papers on his desk. Lucas knew what they were. He had talked to Zay about transferring to the Pittsburgh branch of the company, arguing that he wanted a change of scenery from the bustling streets of New York City, even though the real reason was that he couldn't stand being around Maya and knowing he would never have a chance with her. Zay had told him he would fill out the necessary paperwork before faxing it over to the CEO of the company and of course, Maya had seen the paperwork because it was her job to take care of it.

"Well," she asked, her arms crossed against her chest and her teeth clenched as she waited for him to answer.

"I didn't know you cared so much," he smirked, trying to swivel his chair around so it was facing his desk again, but not getting very far before she grabbed it and turned him so he was facing her.

"Are you really stupid or are you just acting like you are? Why the hell would you think I didn't care about you?"

Lucas stood up, knowing his height was to his advantage. "Maya, you make fun of me all the time. You always tell me to quit."

"Because you can do better! But if you're just going to have the same job you might as well stay here," her voice got quiet then, and she stopped looking at him and moved her attention to the ground before quietly adding, "with me."

There had only been one time since he had known her for the past six months that she had not been loud, and it had been after she and Josh had had a very loud and public argument about his refusal to truly commit to her.

Maya looked back up at Lucas, her blue eyes piercing right through him. "I don't have any other friends here, Lucas. You're my best friend."

He wanted nothing more than to tell her he didn't want to just be her best friend. He wanted to be the guy that held her hand. He wanted to be the guy that took her on surprise trips to art museums and music festivals. He wanted to be the guy to give her a ring she could wear that meant that she was his forever. And he knew that he would never be that guy and that staying there would crush him, but he would rather stay and see her happy.

He grabbed the papers from the desk and put them up to his face, tearing them apart in half before handing them to her.

"Will you be a sweetheart and shred these for me," he asked her mockingly.

Her mouth slowly turned upwards in a smile right before she laughed and took them to her desk to be shredded.

"You should have left," Farkle suddenly said, sounding obviously disappointed.

"I like you too much," Lucas responded jokingly, sitting back in his chair, all the meanwhile still staring at Maya who hadn't take her eyes off of him either.

* * *

"Want to go out on Saturday?"

Lucas looked up from his computer to see Maya sitting on the edge of his desk, legs crossed and casually waiting for an answer.

"What the f-."

"Josh is out of town," she interjected, "And there's going to be this really nice event at this little museum downtown and they're going to be showing local art, and there'll be wine, but I don't want to go by myself because it's kind of a couple-y thing, so-"

"Okay," Lucas interrupted, putting his hand over her mouth so she would stop talking, "I'll go with you."

She smiled, looking pleased with his response and went back to her desk once the telephone began to ring. Although he was happy that she had asked him to "go out" with her, he was a little curious as to why she would have decided asking him would be the best option when he knew she had other friends. He didn't try to question her though, scared that if he did she would revoke the invitation. So instead he told her to text him the address of her apartment where he would pick her up in two days and waited as patiently as he could for the day to get there.

He ended up wearing one of the light blue button downs with the rolled up sleeves that his mother had gotten him because they made his eyes "pop" and put on some nice jeans and went to pick her up at her apartment. He didn't know if he should have gotten her anything or not so he ended up cutting a rose off the bush that was outside the building as a just in case.

When she finally opened the door, he felt like he was really out of place. She was absolutely, without a doubt, stunning. He knew she was beautiful, he had spent five days a week for the past seven months staring at her after all, but he had never seen her without her hair in ponytail, khaki skirt, and white tennis shoes. This Maya was wearing a black skin tight dress that hugged her body in all the right places, four inch heels, and had her hair down and straightened. Her red lipstick was calling for attention, but then again so was the rest of her and he had no idea what to say.

"Hi," she smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"H-hey," Lucas stuttered, right before practically shoving the rose he had brought her into her hand. He mentally cursed at himself for being so nervous. This was _Maya._ Yes, she looked different from how she usually dressed from work and yes, he had a crush, and maybe even deeper feelings, but he was still able to actually speak without fumbling.

She closed the door of her apartment, locking it and putting the key in her small purse and let Lucas lead the way to his car. On the way to the museum he played a new mix CD he had made the night before and she _knew_ somehow because she smirked at him when the very first song started playing and she rested her head on the seat and closed her eyes, humming quietly the entire car ride to the museum. Lucas, on the other hand, tried his hardest to focus on the road and not on the fact that the most gorgeous woman that he'd ever seen in his life was sitting right beside him.

The event at the museum had been what he had expected. The lights were dim, the only real bright lights shining on the art pieces, and there were a few waiters walking around offering wine and appetizers.

Maya dragged him around the different exhibits, asking him what he thought about each and every one and then telling him how he was looking at it wrong and giving her interpretation of it. He simply rolled his eyes, told her art was seen differently by everyone, and she would say, "You see, that's where taking mandatory art in college fucks you up- it makes you believe that what you see is more important than what the artist envisioned when they were creating."

They had been walking around the place for about an hour or so when she led him to a tiny corner in the back of the museum. The painting that was hung there was small, and was covered in dark hues of grays and greens, except for a small speck of yellow in the very middle.

"Okay, what do you think of this one," she asked him.

"Is this a trap," he joked, knowing far too well that whatever he said she would dismiss.

"Lucas, seriously, what do you see when you look at this painting?"

He turned and looked at it, his eyes looking at the brush strokes, the colors, the little dot of yellow.

"It looks like 'Sleeping Beauty.' The strokes are the thorn bushes that covered everything once the princess went to sleep, but despite all the obvious potential harm, there's the yellow, and at first I thought it was the prince, maybe even the princess, but it's hope."

He looked away from the painting and turned to her, immediately noticing her facial expression as if she was trying to register what he had just said.

"Did I get it completely wrong again?"

"No," she responded, laughing a little, "This is the only one you've gotten exactly right, and I would know because I painted it in the twelfth grade."

"Seriously?! Maya, this is amazing." He knew she was good at doodles and caricatures, but this was the first serious artwork he had seen from her and he was honestly impressed.

"Thanks," she smiled, "I was supposed to go to art school here in New York after high school, but then I found out I wouldn't receive financial aid, so all I could afford, and barely, was two years of community college. When I finished that I applied to work as a receptionist with the intention of making money for art school and I just never went back."

This was now the third time Lucas had seen Maya upset and it still felt like he was the one being pushed around by the world. He put his fingers under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him instead of the ground, trying not to get sucked into her mesmerizing blue eyes.

"Maya, you're talented. I'm not saying that because I'm your friend, I'm saying it because it's true. You should go back to art school."

She smiled at him, grabbing his hand from her face and holding it in hers, never once losing eye contact.

"Thank you, Lucas."

* * *

Farkle had been annoying Lucas more than usual that day.

He had brought a stupid Walkman into the office and was blasting his heavy metal music, seemingly unbothered by the volume of the noise even though he had headphones directly over his ears. When Lucas had kindly asked him to lower the volume, Farkle just stood up from his desk and began loudly singing off key and pretended to play the guitar and the drums, somehow simultaneously. He only stopped to go to the bathroom and when he did, Lucas took the opportunity to take the Walkman from his desk and hide it in secret compartment in one of his desk drawers. He then continued to walk over to Maya's desk where she was making phone calls and took the phone from her, putting it back on the base.

"What are you-."

"Ssh, just watch," he told her in whispered tone, walking around the desk so he was standing directly behind Maya, pretending to fax something. That was when Farkle walked back into the room and noticed that his Walkman wasn't where he had left it.

"Who took my Walkman," he yelled, rushing over to the desk clump and looking everywhere frantically. Maya looked back at Lucas who was trying hard not to laugh at the scene of Farkle flipping everything.

"Lucas, you didn't..."

"He was annoying me! And who the hell even listens to cassettes any more?"

"I'm going to tell on you, Lucas and when I do, you're going to be out of here," he yelled, marching into Zay's office and slamming the door shut, everyone in the office watching the scene through the windows except for Lucas and Maya who were bent over from laughing so hard. Maya eyes were rimmed with tears and Lucas had to hold her hand to keep himself stable from watching Zay's terrified expression at Farkle screaming at him.

"What's going on here?"

Lucas picked up his head and saw that Josh had just walked in and quickly composed himself, backing away from Maya, who also had stopped laughing now.

"Hey, babe," Maya tried, standing up and reaching over to give Josh a kiss on the cheek, who looked equal parts mad and confused. "We were just laughing because Lucas played a prank on Farkle and he overreacted. That's all."

Lucas nodded quickly, feeling embarrassed and honestly a little ashamed, that Josh had seen them laughing together and kind of holding hands because even though it didn't mean anything to Maya, it did to him, and the way Josh looked at him with a knowing look was making him feel guilty.

"Wait, you're the guy who took Maya to the art museum last Saturday, right?"

"Yeah," he replied quietly.

"Maybe you should find another girl to go on 'dates' with and hold their hand instead of my fiancée's," he told him smugly.

The old Lucas, the Lucas who got in meaningless fights during high school and had to eventually go to anger management, would have punched the condescending smirk off of Josh's face. This Lucas however, the one who had his temper under control, knew that he was right. He had no right to be angry at him because if the roles were switched, he wouldn't want some other guy to be hanging out with his girlfriend most of the time and be borderline flirting.

Lucas liked Maya. _Really_ liked her. But he knew that he would only cause problems for her if he kept treating her like she was single. So he told Josh he would think about it and walked away. He had to walk away from Maya.

* * *

After deciding to take Josh's advice and find his own girlfriend, Lucas asked his roommate if he knew about any single girls who he could set him up with. He then suggested Stacey, a small shop owner his sister was best friends with, and Lucas made the call to ask her out on a date.

They went out to a sushi place she had suggested and although she was pretty and nice, Lucas spent the entire time thinking about Maya. He knew it was unfair to her, but he couldn't help it. When he looked into Stacey's green eyes he kept imagining the much preferred vision of waves crashing onto shore when he looked into Maya's. When Stacey made a quirky pun about something he had just said, he found himself missing Maya's quick wit. Stacey was nice, but she wasn't Maya, so at the end of the night when he dropped her home, he didn't make any promises of calling her later.

The day afterwards at work, the first thing Maya asked him was how date had gone.

"Hmm," Lucas pretended to contemplate, pouring coffee into his mug, "I guess you could say it went okay."

"But are you going to see her again? Did it go well enough for you to already make plans for a second date or did it just go well enough for you to not consider it a bad date?"

"Why are you so curious?"

"I don't know, I just…" Maya's face turned red as she grabbed her mug filled with her morning chamomile tea and put it up to her lips.

"It sounds to me like you're jealous," he teased, taking a sip of his own drink and laughing before realizing her narrowed eyes. She slammed her mug down on the counter and marched out the door.

"Shit, Maya, I was joking," he called after her. The entire day she ignored him. She ignored him when he went up to her desk. She ignored him when he threw her paper airplanes from his. She was absolutely livid and he didn't understand why. It had only been a joke.

At the end of the day, when she was putting on her coat and getting ready to leave, he walked up behind her and said, "There's not going to be a second date" and walked away, but not before catching a small smile from the corner of his eye.

* * *

"FIRE! FIRE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, NOT A DRILL!"

They all turned to see where Farkle was yelling and realized that there was smoke filling up the kitchen area. They all grabbed their cellphones and ran outside the building, ignoring Farkle's exclamations to exit in a single file line and remain calm. Once they had made it outside, they waited for the fire department to arrive to distinguish it and tell them if they could go back inside.

It was then Lucas's idea to play games to pass the time, so they all gathered around in a circle. After playing the deserted island game, Lucas decided to change it.

"Okay, who would you do in the office. Go."

Right when Billy was about to give his answer, Josh showed up, explaining how he had seen the fire trucks go in the direction of the building and he was worried about Maya.

"So what are we doing," he asked, slipping an arm around Maya's waist.

"Who would you do in the office," Zay responded, looking around the circle as if he was still contemplating his answer.

"Oh, that hot bitchy girl! What's her name? Umm...Sparkle," Josh responded, pointing at her from across the room.

"It's Smackle," she and Farkle told him at the same time, Isadora sounding offended while Farkle seemed like he was ready to attack at any moment.

"Whatever," he scoffed, trying to pull Maya more into his side, but not before she pulled his arm off of her and walked away, obviously upset at his answer. Lucas decided not to follow her, knowing by now that if she was mad she didn't like anyone to be around her. What bothered him though was that Josh seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing. It was as if he didn't care if she was okay or not.

"Okay, new game, due to obvious reasons," Missy said, trying to clear the awkward silence. "The office is burning: who do you save?"

Farkle had said Zay. Zay had said Billy. Billy had said Missy and Missy said she would save him too. And Lucas didn't say anything. Because the only person he cared about in that office was Maya and he knew that if he said that, Josh would begin to get suspicious again.

He didn't need to say it, though.

As long as he knew the only person worth saving from the office, or from anywhere else in the world, was Maya, he'd be okay without the rest of the world knowing.

* * *

Lucas and Maya had a conspiracy theory that Farkle and Isadora were deeply in love with each other and had been in a secret relationship for at least the past year. They had each individually heard them say questionable things to each other when they thought no one else was around. And Maya swore she saw them both come out of the elevator once with weird looks on their faces.

So they came up with a plan to have a party at Lucas's apartment and invite the whole office, to avoid suspicion of course, just to see how Farkle and Isadora behaved around each other and to ask other people if they had noticed anything.

When the night arrived, everyone showed up including some of Lucas's roommate's coworkers, and the party seemed to be going along fine. Lucas was even happier about the fact that Josh hadn't shown up with Maya, so that meant he could investigate with her in peace. They spent a good hour trying to talk to people about their theory without being too obvious and trying to see if Farkle and Isadora were around each other but so far they hadn't been lucky.

Maya suggested a break to eat a snack and reorganize their strategies, so he took a bag of chips and two wine coolers up to his room where him and Maya could strategize in private. When he went back up to his room he found Maya laying on her stomach on his bed and laughing as she flipped through a photo album of his baby pictures.

"Oh no," he groaned, trudging his feet to the bed and putting the food down.

"You are such a huckleberry," she laughed, holding onto her sides from laughing too hard, "This is too fucking much." She wiped tears from her eyes and continued to laugh as she flipped through, while Lucas just covered his face in his hands, silently praying for her to stop.

"Wait," she screamed, "this is my favorite photo I've ever seen of anyone." She held up it for him to see and he immediately felt his face blush. It was a picture of him from when he was two at his Pappy Joe's ranch and he was doing the Coppertone girl pose, butt naked with only a cowboy hat and boots. He immediately wrestled her for the photo album, trying to pry it away from her hands before she could take a picture of it on her phone. Somehow though she had ended up on top of him, their faces inches apart. It wasn't until they realized what position they were in that she decided to just let go of the album and sit at the corner of the bed.

"So umm, our new plan," she sputtered, opening her wine cooler and taking a sip as she tried to distract him from what could have happened seconds ago. They talked about it for a few minutes and then relocated back downstairs with the rest of the party with their new plan. Maya was going to talk to Darby, the known gossip of the office, while Lucas stood nearby and if he heard a way into the conversation, he would try to nonchalantly bring up Smarkle. (They had also come up with a couple name for them when they were upstairs). Maya walked over to Darby who was standing by herself near the bookshelf and Lucas stood to the side pretending to be talking to someone on the phone.

"So," Maya told Darby, sounding like she had really exciting news, "have you heard anything about any office romances?"

Darby smiled and nudged her side, "I don't know you tell me."

"What," Maya asked, sounding confused.

"You and Lucas!"

Lucas saw Maya's expression drop and her ears turn red. Meanwhile he felt his heart began to race and felt the immediate urge to run away and hide because if Darby could see that he had a crush on her, then that meant the rest of his coworkers saw it, too. Middle school flashbacks flooded his brain as he thought about how the last he had felt this embarrassed about liking someone had been when his secret crush about this girl had gotten out and she very publicly rejected his feelings. Somehow, this situation with Maya was ten times worse.

Maya stuttered, "W-why would you say that? We're just friends."

"I'm sorry," Darby sincerely apologized, "I just thought...you guys always go out to lunch together and he always goes to your desk to talk you-."

She didn't get to finish her sentence though, as Maya quickly ran out of the apartment, not saying a word to anyone as she grabbed her coat and purse. Lucas alternated between staring at the door the rest of the night and his phone, waiting for her to come back or for her to text or call.

But she was silent. Everything was silent.

* * *

The annual Zay Awards were going to be held soon and Lucas could tell Maya was already dreading it. The awards themselves weren't that bad, it had been created by Zay to recognize the employees and for him to practice comedy, but Maya hated it because of the award she always got: "Longest Engagement." Apparently Josh thought it was funny and didn't care about the embarrassment that Maya felt. But Lucas did. So he went to Zay's office and practically begged him to give Maya another award, anything besides her usual one. He finally complied and said he would come up with something and Lucas felt his anxiety about the night already begin to diminish.

It was being held at a bar that just by the looks of it seemed as though it was beginning to crumble, with its flickering light bulbs and neon signs and creaky chairs. No one really seemed to be enjoying the night, except Zay of course, but Maya looked especially angry at Josh for not showing up. When he finally did Maya ended up storming outside with him and when she came back she still had that pissed off look in her eyes. She sat at Lucas's table and took his glass of beer, chugging the whole thing and slamming it down.

"Woah, you okay there," he asked her, chuckling.

"Just not looking forward to my award, that's all," she smiled. She ordered a margarita, a daiquiri and some shots, all the meanwhile Lucas kept asking her if she needed to talk. Each response out of her came out more slurred than the one before and he knew she was without a doubt drunk.

"Let me call Josh to take you home," he told her, trying to take her phone away from her.

"N-no, Huckleberry," she laughed, putting her phone in her shirt, "I'll get a ride home from Isadora! She loves me!"

When Zay announced that the next award was going to be for Maya, she immediately stopped laughing and her whole body stiffened.

"Maya Hart you get "The Whitest Sneakers in The Office" award," Zay screamed into the microphone. Lucas immediately felt himself relax seeing as how Zay had kept true to his word and given Maya a different award. He looked over and saw Maya beaming as she went to the front to get her award and give her acceptance speech.

"I want to," she giggled, "Thank the children in China who make my shoes! I love my shoes! I love all the shoes! But I- I also want to thank Jesus for giving me this award because he is in this bar, I feel it…. Whoo!"

Lucas was trying hard not to laugh at Maya's drunk speech but he couldn't help it, especially not as she was walking back to him, looking as if she was going to fall over any second. When she made her way back to him, he was standing and ready to help her back onto her chair but she was still excited about the award.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into hug, but she seemed like she was going to fall so he quickly put his arms on her waist to steady her. Without any hint of warning though, she stopping hugging him and moved her face closer to his, placing her lips firmly on his. For a second, just a second, Lucas closed his eyes and kissed her back. But just as quickly as he tasted her alcohol infused lips, he stepped away, gently pushing her off.

Maya didn't seem bothered by the slightest, still giggling about her award as Lucas helped her get on the stool. She probably wasn't going to ever remembered that had even happened. The moment Lucas had dreamed about since he had first met her was now a drunken mistake that Maya wouldn't even be able to recall.

* * *

As he had expected, Maya had not remembered their kiss. This was now the second "moment" of theirs that she had been avoiding, the first being what had had happened at his party. But Lucas knew a way that he could change that. For the secret Santa gift exchange at the office, Lucas had luckily picked Maya's name out of the hat, which he was excited for because it meant he could get her a gift without it seeming weird and he knew exactly what he wanted to get her.

A while ago during one of their conversations in the break room, Maya had mentioned how when she was younger she had a ballerina music box she loved and how she would open it and let the music fill the room and drown out the sounds of her parents arguing. Unfortunately, when her mother and her ended up moving away after years of meaningless fights, the box had gotten lost during the move and she had never replaced it. After Maya had told him this he made her describe the box in intricate detail and he set out to find it. It took him a few weeks but he eventually found one almost exactly as she had described, wooden but painted a pastel pink with an image of a ballerina dancing on the front, small flowers all around her and on every side of the box.

Lucas decided that along with the box he would put in the dreaded baby picture of him as a naked cowboy, the ticket from the art show they went to together, and some of her favorite chamomile tea bags. But most importantly a card. The card that would let her know everything he felt for and about her.

She was the sun he revolved around, the source of his energy and will to go on, the brightest star he would ever know. And he was an Icarus, aware that if he approached too close to her, he'd burn. But he was willing to take that chance because she was everything and she needed to know that if she was the reason for his downfall, it would be the most beautiful death of all. Lucas Friar had never loved anyone or anything so purely and he would never want to love anyone or anything besides her. She needed to know.

When it was finally time for the secret Santa gift exchange, he went up to her desk and placed the wrapped present right in front of her.

"You got me," she asked, smiling and picking up the gift, shaking it next to her ear.

"I did. I got you."

She laughed and put it back down on the desk before tearing into the wrapping paper and uncovering the plastic box he had put the present in. He looked at her face carefully, probably more than he had ever done before, not wanting to miss a second of her reaction. She lifted the top and her smile immediately vanished as she clenched her eyes and tears began to fall from her face.

"My music box," she cried, "How did you-."

"I searched for it for weeks, but I got it. And it's even better because there's more presents inside."

She opened the box and classical music began to fill the room. She immediately laughed at the baby picture and squealed at the ticket from the art show, but as she was falling in love with her gift, he realized he was falling in with her, dangerously in love. She was engaged and if he told her, that would be the end. He couldn't risk it. So as she was still watching the plastic ballerina twirl in place, he took the card he had wrote and slipped it into his back pocket.

He had decided not to tell her because she was the sun, he was an opposing force, and even though science laws could not be altered, sometimes it took time for people to realize they were even existing in the first place.

"Merry Christmas, Lucas," she said reaching over and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Maya."

* * *

Maya Hart didn't take a lot of things seriously, but one thing she always did regardless the circumstances, were the rules of jinx. Since Lucas had first gotten there, he always had to watch out when he was talking with Maya because she would call "jinx" on him faster than he could process what he had just said.

So when they both perfectly timed a "that's what she said" right after something Farkle said, he wasn't surprised by her "Jinx! Buy me a Coke," right afterwards. She laughed as he led them to the vending machines, already taking his wallet out of his pocket, when he noticed the flashing sign that said sodas were sold out.

"Can I-."

"Sshh!" She quickly placed her hand over his mouth to keep him from talking, laughing at his predicament. "You can't speak until I get my Coke, so it looks like you're out of luck. Sorry, I don't make the rules."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, Lucas knowing quite well that she wasn't flexible with her rules. He went to all the vending machines he could find in the building, but none of them had any Coke in stock, so he just went back to work, forcibly minding his own business. Every now and then, he would look over at Maya's desk only to find that she was already looking over at him. It made him realize just how much time he spent talking with Maya at work, and it made the day go by even slower.

With only twenty minutes left in the work day, Maya walked to him and put a Coke can on his desk, stretching her hand out for money. He smiled and took two dollars out of his wallet, placing them on her hand and then sliding the soda back to her.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"I missed you."

* * *

Ten voicemails. After a full day of pitch meetings and being out of the office, Lucas thought he would at most have a missed text, but instead he was greeted by ten voicemails. Each one from Maya.

" _You're fifteen minutes late to work where are you?! Call me back when you get this so I know you're okay."_

" _Hey, Zay just told me you're gonna be in meetings all day. On the one hand I'm relieved you're fine. On the other hand, I'm pissed you didn't tell me before. I thought someone had lassoed you up and kidnapped you. Call me back when you get a chance."_

" _It's been two hours and I am soooo bored. I really hope you're as bored as I am."_

" _Thank you for calling Dunder Mifflin, this is- Okay sorry, I had to pretend_ _to be on the phone for business because Farkle kept looking at me suspiciously. Anyways, call me back."_

" _I thought you would be back by now, but you missed lunch time. Sarah and Missy were discussing a soap opera where one character apparently turned out to be the long lost brother of his greatest enemy, and now they're in a love triangle. Absolutely riveting."_

" _Farkle. Is. Annoying. Me. Come. Back."_

" _I went into Zay's office and caught him listening and crying to the The Notebook soundtrack. This needs to be discussed."_

" _There's an hour left of work. If you come back soon, we can catch up about everything you missed. I think I have more evidence for our Smarkle theory…Okay, I lied. I just want you here."_

" _It's official. You missed an entire day of Lucas and Maya."_

" _Hey. We need to talk."_

* * *

He knew she was holding back from him. He had known Maya long enough to know what she was saying, without actually saying anything. When he went back to work she smiled at him widely, but her eyes didn't match her lips. They looked sad, confused, holding back something. But the problem with Maya was that he was always scared to be too risky with her, to tell her what he truly wanted to say. So he pretended to be oblivious to it. To all of it.

He simply asked her what she had wanted to talk to him about and she brushed it off, saying she had forgotten. He didn't push her on it and just smiled, asking her for her predictions of the secret trip Zay had planned for that night.

Zay had sent out an itinerary about two days before with random objects that everyone from the office should bring for their trip after work. On the list "bathing suit, ski mask, snacks, and motion sickness pills" were included and together it didn't make any sense as to what their trip was going to be. Maya guessed an underwater robbery and Lucas laughed because knowing Zay, he didn't put that past him.

When they got the secret location however, they realized that it wasn't any of their guesses. It was a cruise ship.

"Damn it, I was excited to go on a stealing spree with you," smirked Maya, holding Josh's hand, but walking beside Lucas on her other side.

"We can always go on one when we get back to land," he replied, to which Maya winked at as she slid into a booth, sitting across from him.

The night went by with boring speeches about teamwork and drunken karaoke and party games, all of which Josh was thoroughly enjoying, which led to Maya and Lucas sneaking out onto the deck to get away from the craziness for a bit.

"Sometimes I don't get Josh," she whispered, looking out onto the dark river and letting the crisp wind blow her hair back.

"Me either," he breathed, and then quietly, "Why are you even with him?"

"I love him," she replied, but she didn't sound convinced, saying it more like a question.

"Are you sure?"

She looked at him finally, her cheeks flushed pink and her lips white from the cold weather. She parted her lips slightly, the words on the brink of escape, but then she closed them and told him that she was going to go back inside. Lucas stayed out there for a while longer, looking out at the water and thinking about Maya's swallowed in words. He was tired of her never saying what she was thinking, tired of circling around each other, tired of not being with her.

He sucked in a deep breath and turned around to go back inside, feeling a newfound bravery to go inside and tell Maya how he felt about her. But when he opened the door, he found everyone celebrating and in the center of the room, Maya kissing Josh. He looked around before he finally locked eyes with Zay across the room, who mouthed "they set a date" and held two beer bottles in his hand.

Lucas quickly got out of the room, running back to the deck and taking deep breaths. If it wasn't official before, it was now. Now there was a date for the wedding, and for Lucas's case, his funeral. Zay came out laughing and still holding the beer bottles, handing one over to Lucas who took it without hesitation and drank out of it quickly.

"You should be happy, your friend just set a date for her wedding," Zay smiled, patting him on the back.

"That's exactly why I'm not," he huffed, taking a drink of the beer.

"Wait, what?"

"Maya, I," he sighed, "I like her- a lot. And I wanted to tell her, but then she-."

"You should still tell her."

"She's engaged," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Engaged isn't married."

Lucas stared at him, not believing what he was saying, and then being surprised even more by what he said next.

"Don't give up."

* * *

Zay told him not to give up but he called someone at corporate and asked about moving to Pittsburgh as a just in case.

* * *

Their days of pranks and scheming had been replaced with wedding planning and annoying conversations about Josh. Because Maya's closest friend really was Lucas, she entrusted him with help for everything, much to his hidden dismay. He was there with her when she wanted to make quick runs to floral shops during their lunch breaks and he was there with her preparing wedding invitations. He was even there with her when she brought in hundreds of bridal magazines and scissors and glue because she wanted to create different mood boards for inspiration.

"You're the best, you know that," she would tell him every single minute she got the chance to, to which he would silently reply, "Not better than Josh, apparently."

Wedding planning was even more difficult for him because of his possible move to Pittsburgh that was still hung in the air. They had told him there would always be a place for him there, so now it was just up to him to decide. No one knew about his offer, and he wanted it that way. The truth for him seemed obvious: there was no future for him there in New York.

* * *

Zay announced that there would be a charity casino night in the warehouse, to which everyone was excited about because gambling and alcohol were probably the only things that could serve as a decent distraction at this point. There had been discussions about one of the branches in the company closing and everyone was nervous about the possibility of losing their jobs.

The night went by with Maya and Lucas challenging each other, the only reminder of her impending wedding being that Josh was there. Lucas basked in every smile that she threw at him when he had called her bluff and tried to etch every single second of their time together in his brain. He had called Pittsburgh a few days ago about leaving and had decided that it would be for the best, so now he was just trying to get as much of Maya as he possibly could.

He saw her leave with Josh and he had followed her out, planning on leaving himself.

"Take care of her, man," Josh called out to Lucas from inside the driver's seat of his car and even though Lucas simply nodded, inside his brain working through those words. All he had ever wanted to do was take care of her and make her happy. He was going to leave, he knew that, but inside him there was a small part that felt that he couldn't. Josh couldn't make her happy, not the way he could. And Maya finally needed to know that.

"You okay," Maya asked him, getting closer and taking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I just, I need to talk to you."

"About how much more of your money you're going to give me," she asked teasingly.

"No."

"C'mon I'm feeling really good tonight!"

"Maya."

"Don't be a sore loser."

"Maya," he said more seriously, staring at her as she finally realized that this was important to him. It was quiet between them until he finally broke it.

"I'm in love with you."

"What?"

He breathed in and out, feeling the rims of his eyes begin to fill with tears.

"I'm in love with you and I needed you to know. Once."

"What am I supposed to say to that?"

He stayed quiet.

"You're my best friend and I'm engaged," she told him gently, her eyes beginning to swell with tears as well, "Your friendship means _everything_ to me-."

"Well I don't want to be just your friend," he shouted, "I want to be more than that."

"Lucas," she whispered, looking hopeless and clearly not knowing what to say. He walked past her and into his car, feeling not so much regret as he did disappointment. He was an idiot for thinking that just by confessing his feelings she would give in and be his. It wasn't that easy. They weren't that easy.

He had been driving for about twenty minutes before he realized, however, that he didn't want easy. He wanted her and he couldn't give up that quickly. He turned the car around, heading back to the office building and determined to find Maya and try to change her mind, or at least get her to say what was really on it.

He went to the warehouse where casino night was drawing to a close before someone told him they had seen her going up to the office. He took the elevator and peeked inside the window, noticing her twirling the telephone cord around and talking into it while leaning against his desk. He opened the door swiftly and she noticed him right away.

"Mom, I'll call you back later," she said quickly into the phone before hanging it up. "Lucas-."

But she didn't finish her sentence. Instead Lucas grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him, crashing his lips onto hers. He felt her grab his head and draw him closer, gently pulling at his hair, meanwhile all his insides were on fire at her touch. Her lips felt firmer now, more sure than before, and he knew then that regardless of what she had said, this was what she wanted, too.

"I've wanted to do that since I first got here," he breathed against her lips, still holding her close to him, afraid to let go.

"Me too," she laughed a bit, pushing her forehead against his. She looked at him like she never had before, as if he was as important to her as she had been to him and he had never felt so happy. He leaned down, ready to kiss her and feel the entire world disappear and reappear before him again, but she stopped him. "Lucas, we can't."

"You're really gonna marry him?"

And for a moment, a small, minuscule moment, he saw her hesitation. And for that small, minuscule moment, he had hope. Then the moment was gone.

A head nod was all it took.

And then he left.

* * *

He ended up moving from New York City to Pittsburgh on a Tuesday to avoid traffic and halfway through he began to feel like he made a mistake.

A mistake in taking the stupid salesman job. A mistake in staying at the stupid salesman job even after he found out Maya was engaged. A mistake in thinking that he actually had a chance to get the girl. And now he was making a mistake by leaving her.

He accidentally played the mix CD he had first made for Maya, having replicated one for himself, and he wanted to cry. To just pull over to the side of the road, turn up the music, and cry about being stupid enough to want her, to kiss her, to think she would ever want those same things. But he didn't. He kept driving and driving and when he got to his new apartment, empty and humid, he just stared at the cracked walls and thought about how Maya's art would be the only thing to properly cover up such a mess.

* * *

Riley Matthews was the name of the first person who greeted him when he walked into his new office. He didn't like how it sounded at first. "Riley." It seemed like an acquired taste, almost like coffee, but unlike the bitter drink, she smiled at him and showed him to his desk. She kept asking if he needed help or had any questions, but just told her no as politely as he could, and organized his things on the desk.

Riley ended up sitting right in front of him, her back faced towards him. He saw Lisa Frank stickers covering her computer monitor and pictures of her with bunnies and puppies displayed in bedazzled picture frames on her desk and he almost laughed. She was nice, but the sight of all the pinks and purples was too much.

During lunch break, he asked her about it and she said, "I like them. I like to look at them. It's as simple as that." Lucas didn't know what to respond, so he didn't. Riley didn't talk like Maya did, always finishing her sentences off in a way for someone else to reply. If Riley was going to be the only person talking to him in the office, he had to figure out a way to have a conversation with her.

He didn't know if he would like Pittsburgh as much as New York, but at least there he didn't have to worry about falling in love with anybody.

* * *

He found out Maya didn't go through with the wedding when he saw Zay at a conference for the business.

He immediately glared at Lucas and pointed his finger, whispering "you" through gritted teeth. When he had left the office, no one knew about the move until it had already been done, so Zay had never known his reasons. Knowing him, he probably thought it had something to do with him.

"Let me explain," Lucas tried, putting his hands up in defense as Zay walked towards him angrily.

"What the hell man?! What kind of friend just leaves without saying goodbye!"

Lucas huffed, dragging Zay into his hotel room and shutting the door behind him, ignoring his apologies for being a bad manager. He sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to stop so he could explain.

"I didn't leave because of you, Zay. I left because of Maya," he whispered. "I took your advice. I told her about my feelings and put myself out there, twice, and she rejected me, twice. And I just...I couldn't be there anymore."

"You don't know," Zay told him, his eyes wide.

"What?"

"She didn't go through with the wedding. She called it off a couple weeks before. She's single now!"

And for a millisecond, Lucas felt his hope and love creep back from the ash that had formed itself when he kissed Maya and she burned him. But his mind immediately covered it up and didn't give it a chance for revival. He knew better. He knew Maya didn't see him as anything more than a friend and thinking otherwise would only hurt him again.

"I can't go back, Zay. I need to be on my own for a while."

"But-."

"I was in love with her for years and she didn't feel the same. I'm staying here."

Even though Zay usually wasn't the most perceptive person, he nodded and put his hand on Lucas's back.

For a while Lucas had forgotten how nice it was to know you had a friend in your boss. Maybe Maya wasn't the only thing Lucas missed from New York.

* * *

Things ran a little differently in the Pittsburgh office than it did in New York. There were no parties, pranks or Maya. Riley tried to make it fun for him by inviting him to binge watch TV shows with her during lunch breaks, but he wasn't interested in her sappy, dramatic romances. The days went by slower, much to Lucas's dismay, which meant that he spent most of his days looking up weird videos and news articles.

Charlie, a guy who worked there and tried painfully hard to be the boss's favorite, caught him once and brought it to his attention that his job currently wasn't a guarantee, so he should focus on work. How was it that he had gone from one annoying buzz kill named Farkle to another named Charlie?

Lucas ignored him and continued to search for nonsense websites to waste his time on. Finally, he found a website with excellent prankish materiel and his brain started working out the details. The day was drawing to a close, but with his luck maybe Zay would still be at the office. He picked up the phone and dialed the number he knew by heart, excited a little more with every ringing tone.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is-."

"Maya," he asked confused. He hadn't called the office since he had first been there, but usually it would allow a caller to enter a known extension before going towards reception.

"Lucas," she breathed. "Hi."

"What are you still doing there," he asked, looking at the time on the computer screen, '5:24 P.M.' showing up on the bottom right corner. "Shouldn't you be home?"

"We had a late day at the office. Zay had this meltdown and it was just...wait why are you calling?"

"I wanted to talk to him, actually," he laughed, "I found this website that makes you take a test about your family background and then later it emails you about a famous person you're related to. It's a total scam, but I'm hoping it'll tell him he's related to Barack Obama and it lands him with Secret Service in the White House."

"I did that with my mom! I found it a few months ago and it told her we were direct relatives of Maureen O'Shana."

"No way," Lucas smirked, leaning back in his chair and smiling despite himself, picturing Maya's smug look on her face all the way in New York. "Did she buy it?"

They launched into a thorough discussion about her prank, all the meanwhile thinking of what celebrity they should tell Farkle he was related to and talking about what celebrity they'd like as their family members. When Lucas glanced at the time on his computer screen again, he saw about thirty minutes had passed without either realizing it. He heard a sudden commotion on the other end of the phone right before he got the chance to say anything about it.

"I gotta go," she said suddenly.

"Oh, okay, well then um, bye I guess."

She was quiet for a moment and he was about to hang up, when she spoke gently, "It was really nice talking to you."

And that was the first time Lucas realized he had enjoyed himself at work for a long time.

It was really nice.

* * *

Riley asked him out on a Thursday and before he even had time to think, he found himself saying yes.

He had constantly been thinking about his long phone conversation with Maya that had happened a few weeks prior. He knew it wasn't healthy to be drowning in thoughts of her when she was the reason he had left New York, so when Riley asked him out, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a distraction.

He picked her up in front of her apartment complex later that night and she pointed to hers at the very top, her window sill overflowing with flowers. The car ride over to the Italian restaurant he was taking her to was spent talking about Riley's television drama and the actual meal was spent talking about their childhoods. Apparently her parents had been sweethearts their entire life, which was why, Lucas assumed, she was so caught up with fairytale romances. He told her how he had wanted to be a veterinarian for a long time when he was younger and she put her hand on his reassuringly, telling him he could still be one if he wanted to be, but he knew better.

When dinner was over, he offered to take her for some ice cream, not really wanting to go back home to his empty apartment, but she declined, saying it was past her usual bedtime. He walked her to the front door of her building, smiling at her as she went to grab his hand before he left.

"I had a really nice time. Thank you, Lucas," she said shyly.

He smiled back at her and leaned down to press a kiss on her lips, curious as to how it would compare to his kisses with Maya. It only lasted a few seconds and when he withdrew her eyes were still closed and she had a dreamy smile on her face. He, on the other hand, didn't feel a speckle of happiness or any sparks, not like he did with Maya.

But he pretended he did and smiled back at her.

And he did the same thing the next time and the next.

* * *

It was decided that the Pittsburgh branch would close and merge with New York's. Lucas had to leave the room when he heard the news from his boss after a burst of panic started to go through him.

He had been in a new relationship with Riley for a few weeks and was successfully getting over Maya, but going back to New York with her would surely erase all of that. How could he ever resist Maya Hart and those electric blue eyes that sent his heart racing?

"Are you okay," Riley asked him, having followed him outside where he'd gone to catch a breath. He nodded and smiled, not wanting to worry her considering she tended to worry easily. She smiled back and grabbed his hands in hers. "This will be a new adventure for us. You, me, and the big city- it's perfect."

Except, Lucas knew it was really him, Riley, and Maya in the big city. And that was what worried him.

* * *

Maya was sitting at her desk, her head down and lips pursed, just like the very first time he had ever seen her. She was still the effortless beauty that made him feel like a teenager dealing with butterflies when he saw his crush in class.

He casually walked up to her, inhaling to fight the blush he felt was beginning to creep onto his face.

"You know, you're actually quite good," he smiled, propping his elbow on her desk to get her attention.

"Lucas," she smiled, looking up at him and practically jumping out of her chair to go around her desk and wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he murmured into her hair. When he let go of her, he found himself just staring at her, not knowing exactly to say. They were friends, always would be, but now that the sudden moment of reunion had passed, he felt the tension in the room from the last time he was there. It was still there, like the oxygen he breathed, constantly surrounding him.

"So do I still have the same desk," he coughed, trying to break the silence.

"Unfortunately," answered Farkle, shoving his shoulder with his own as he walked right past him.

"I missed that," Lucas said to Maya, causing her to break into a contagious grin. It wasn't until Riley walked in with her box full of desk accessories that they stopped laughing.

"Hi, can I help you," Maya asked, walking away from Lucas and to her, attempting to reach the box from her struggling grasp.

"Yes, please," she responded, letting Maya grab the box from her hands before she dropped, "Since apparently my boyfriend is no help whatsoever."

"Oh is he transferring here, too?"

"Yes," she giggled, rolling her eyes, "Lucas. You were just talking to him."

Maya almost dropped the box, staring back and forth between Riley and Lucas. He avoided her gaze, silently cursing himself for not telling her before Riley did. She didn't say anything else, just mumbled and "oh", and led Riley to her desk a few feet away from Lucas's.

He tried talking to Maya at lunch, but she made an excuse as to why she couldn't and when he felt her looking at him from her desk, he was met with somber eyes. It was only his first day back, of course things would be strange, he knew that. But Maya was his home, something etched into him that he knew he could always depend and now it didn't feel like that. Shadows from Pittsburgh had followed him and covered his home, darkening it to the point of unfamiliarity.

When the work day ended, it was surprisingly Maya who caught him in the parking lot before he left.

"We're okay, right," she asked, rubbing her hands together to heat them up, "We're still friends?"

Here she was, Maya Hart, without a doubt the most amazing person he had ever met, insecure about her friendship with him. He had to bite his cheek from laughing at the silliness of her question.

"Always."

* * *

Charlie never asked Lucas for favors, hell, he never even tried to have a decent conversation with him. So when he put his arm around his shoulder, a wide grin plastered onto his face, Lucas knew he was going to ask for something big.

"So," Charlie started off slowly, "You know the hot, blonde receptionist pretty well, right?"

Lucas looked back at Maya from his desk where she was talking to someone on the phone. She smiled at him briefly when she caught him staring at her and he smiled back before turning his attention back to Charlie.

He knew her better than anybody.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Lucas replied, the caution obvious in his tone as he shrugged Charlie's arm off.

"Great! I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"I'm not sure-."

"I need you to tell me everything she likes in a guy, so that I can convince her to go out with me," he interrupted, waggling his eyebrows.

Lucas looked back at Maya one more time.

He knew her better than anybody. And he knew what she did and didn't like. She did not like guys like Charlie, guys who sucked up to their boss and were persistent and had a spoiled childhood, guys who had hair that would only be appropriate for a rock band and drowned themselves in cologne. What she did like however? Pranks.

"Get out a pen and pencil, you're gonna want to take notes," Lucas told him, trying to contain his laughter. He went into full detail, giving him false information about what Maya liked. Charlie thanked him and went about his way while Lucas sat back and anticipated what he would do with all his intel.

Later he came in with a big array of balloons and set them on Maya's desk, leaving her expressionless.

"What the f-," she started, right before Charlie put his finger right up to Maya's lips and shushed her, something Lucas had told him Maya found romantic.

"Just because," he whispered, in a fake British accent, right before walking away.

Maya caught Lucas choking back tears from laughter and threw an angry glare at him before she bit her lip to keep herself from laughing along. She hated fake British accents, and thought giving balloons as a gift was a dumb idea, but of course Lucas knew that. Much to Maya's dismay, and Lucas's entertainment, that was not all he had told her.

Charlie had also managed to bring in an accordion and play a song for Maya, after having been told by Lucas it was a huge turn on for when a man could play her favorite instrument. He had even slipped in some blonde jokes, also something Lucas told him she loved.

By the end of the day, Maya was exhausted and simply told Charlie that she was not interested in a relationship, but that if she was, he would be at the top of her list, winking at Lucas who was standing behind him with a raised eyebrow.

"I hate you," she told him, putting on her coat and grabbing her purse.

"I can't believe that I, Lucas Friar, put together the perfect boyfriend for you, Maya Penelope Hart, and you were so unappreciative."

She bit the inside of her cheek, fighting off a smile and shoving him playfully as they walked to the parking lot together.

Riley was behind them the entire time and only made herself known when she reminded Lucas that he was her ride home. In the car he explained to her what he had done as a prank and Riley laughed along before turning to him excitedly.

"We should actually set her up with somebody!"

Lucas stayed quiet the rest of the way.

* * *

When Christmas came around, Lucas thought about the card confessing his true feelings for Maya, or at least, what he felt for her back then. It was sitting untouched in his drawer back at home, hidden underneath some socks and ties. Part of him wanted to throw it away, but there was another part that wanted to keep it as a reminder that yes, he could love someone that much.

Riley was a nice distraction from all his memories of Maya though, especially during the Christmas time. She had Lucas wake up early to go Black Friday shopping, had him accompany her to find the perfect Christmas tree about two hours away, and even had him sit at the kitchen table with her, handing her pieces of tape while she wrapped presents. From all her activities and Christmas song singing, he didn't have time to think about Maya, even if he had wanted to.

"I am so, so excited to plan for the Christmas party today with the committee. Maya was so nice to invite me," Riley smiled at him while they took off their coats. He was about to respond that yes, Maya was nice, when Zay's voice alarmed everyone.

"There will be no Christmas party today," he cried. Everyone turned and started asking questions, saying that they had already invited guests, how he had no right to cancel the party. "Vanessa just called me and broke up with me. Love is dead and so is Christmas. Party cancelled."

He slammed the door of his office and everyone stared at Lucas, expecting him to do something to calm him down like always. Before he even had the chance, he saw Isadora shove Farkle into his direction, and he went inside instead to talk to him. About five minutes later he came out and reassured everyone that there would be a party, earning a smile from Isadora that both Maya and Lucas caught, raising their eyebrows at one another. Maya wiggled her finger at Lucas, gesturing for him to go over to her desk.

"I have to give you your Christmas present early," she whispered, sliding a folder over to him in a discreet manner. He opened the folder, white and with a large "CLASSIFIED" painted red in Maya's handwriting on the front, to find dozens of printed pages of emails and information. "I've been sending Farkle fake emails from an underground government agency, saying that we're in the process of recruiting him, and your gift is to choose what his top secret mission is."

Lucas smiled at her and flipped through the pages, thinking about how long it must have taken Maya to keep this prank going for so long. He glanced back at Riley who was talking to Isadora about the Christmas party, and was quickly overwhelmed with the feeling of guilt. He had a girlfriend already and it wasn't Maya. It wouldn't be fair to her or to him if he just fell back into his old habits with Maya. When he left to Pittsburgh he had promised himself he was done chasing Maya and had accepted that nothing between them would ever happen. What would he be doing if he just fell again?

"This is great, but I don't think I should be doing this stuff anymore," he said to her, sliding the folder back. "I appreciate it, but it doesn't feel right."

"Oh, okay," she said, her eyes wide as she grabbed the folder and slipped it back inside her desk drawer. She got up from her desk, hands wringing as she walked to the break room to join the rest of the party planning committee. He stared at her as she joined Riley and the rest of the group and even though he felt bad for not accepting her gift, he kept telling himself it was for the best.

Zay quickly took him out of his thoughts when he invited him, along with Charlie and Farkle, to get out of the office and go to a restaurant for lunch to distract him from his breakup. Lucas ended up staying two hours with them, simply watching as Charlie and Zay flirted with waitresses and persuaded them to go back to the office with them for the Christmas party. When they arrived back, there were lights and tinsel everywhere, a karaoke machine was set up and there was food and alcohol set up in the break room.

"Don't you think we did a good job," Riley asked Lucas, hugging him as he approached her with the small gift they had said they would get for each other for the office party.

"You definitely did," he smiled, taking his gift from her hands. They unwrapped it at the same time, unveiling that they had both gotten each other DVD copies of "The Master of Disguise," a movie they had seen together and both thoroughly hated, a first for them. Riley smiled, mockingly putting a hand to her heart and then hugging Lucas. He hugged her back and over her shoulder he saw Maya staring at them right before looking away.

He didn't know why, but he felt bad. He didn't owe her anything, he knew that, but they were still friends. The last thing he would ever want would be to hurt her.

Lucas went to go sit down on the couch near reception, to take a break from the party and recollect his thoughts, but was then accompanied by Zay, tie disheveled and frown back on his face.

"What happened to you," he asked him, trying not to gag at the smell of alcohol on him.

"My new girlfriend, that waitress, she just left. She said it wasn't going to work out," he threw his head back, eyes closed and hands rubbing at his lids. "Why does it never work out for me, man?"

"You just had a rebound," Lucas replied quickly, to which Zay opened his eyes and sat up. "Rebounds are fun while they last but then that's over and you're still left thinking about the girl you really like. The one who broke your heart."

Lucas looked at Maya, who was talking to Riley and Darby some feet away.

"So that's why this hurts so bad?"

Maya looked back at him, locking eyes and then batting her eyelashes as she turned back to her conversation.

"Yeah, that's why it hurts so bad."

* * *

When everyone was getting ready to leave the office once the party was over, Lucas stopped over at reception where Maya was getting her stuff.

"I got my present back from your drawer," he told her slipping on his coat and then showing her where he'd stashed it inside his pocket. She smiled and bit her lips, the warmth in her eyes sending shivers all throughout him. "I was thinking we'll send him a helicopter to the roof tonight, have him go to Mexico and help with the secret base there."

Maya threw her head back laughing, agreeing to everything and then typing away at her computer for an email to send Farkle.

Lucas smiled at her the entire time: his friend, Maya, the girl who had broken his heart once and who with every glance his way was fixing it.

* * *

Ever since the Christmas party, Maya and Riley had been a lot closer. They would go out to lunch together, forward funny emails to each other, and they would even call each other during new episodes of some crappy TV show, so that they could "watch" together. Lucas would be sitting right next to Riley on the couch and would get so annoyed with their loud commentary that he would leave to his bedroom and hide in there until it was over.

It was weird. Not only because his girlfriend was friends with his ex-something/current friend/always-Maya, but because that person had never had other friends in the office. It had always been just her and Lucas when she wanted to talk and hang out, and now it seemed like she was picking her over him.

"So what's going on with you and Riley," he asked her one morning while they were getting coffee in the kitchen.

"You sound jealous, Friar," she commented, not really paying attention to him as she stirred in sugar into her mug.

"I'm not, I just find it a little weird that you never had other friends except for me and now you've chosen Riley."

She looked up at him at that, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open in disbelief. He heard it, too, right when the words had left his mouth. He sounded absolutely ridiculous, making a big deal about something that shouldn't have been.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean it like that. You have every right to be friends with whoever you want."

She smiled and nodded, taking her coffee cup back to her desk. She didn't say much to him or Riley throughout the day, and by the next she seemed to be back to normal. But Riley on the other hand was doing a very bad job of hiding the fact she didn't want to talk to Maya much anymore.

Lucas thought it was strange, especially considering that it had been Riley who was so excited to have a girl to talk to. When he brought it up to her during an episode of the dumb TV show she liked watching with Maya, her eyes stayed glue to the screen and her mouth remained a straight line.

"I have every right to be friends with whoever I want."

And his heart sank.

* * *

Riley told Lucas she loved him when he was parked in front of her apartment dropping her off after work.

And the first thing he thought about right after those three little words came out of her mouth was Maya.

"Lucas, are you going to say it back," Riley asked, her voice quieter now.

But he couldn't. He knew what love was, and he didn't feel that for her. Even though he didn't love Riley, he cared about her and he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

Instead he told her everything that had happened with Maya. He told her about how he was in love with her for years, how she had been engaged to a man named Josh since before they had even met, about how he had confessed his feelings for her and kissed her. He told her about how she had rejected him and that was the reason he had gone to Pittsburgh in the first place, but that while he was there he found out that she had called off the wedding.

"She was the first person I ever said 'I love you' to, and I just," Lucas breathed, his eyes focused on the steering wheel, so he wouldn't have to look at Riley, "I don't think I'm ready to say it again, for a while, at least."

She put her hand over his, making him finally look at her.

"It's okay, Lucas," she said, though her eyes said otherwise, brimming with tears. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, lingering there for a few more seconds to whisper, "You can take as much time as you need to say it back."

They said their goodnights to each other and she got out of the car, waving to him once last time before going inside her apartment.

That night Lucas dreamt about Maya telling him she loved him. And in his dream, he said it back.

* * *

Maya's laughter was the sound Lucas heard the most throughout his day. They still weren't back to who they used to be, but with every joke and prank and shared glances, they were getting closer. He had missed her when he was gone and even though something had shifted in their relationship, he saw the potential to get it back to normal and settled. Unfortunately, so did Riley.

Every time he would be talking to Maya, Riley would show up and intervene with a fake laugh or unnecessary comment. She would slip her arm into the crook of Lucas's or go to his desk and place a kiss on his cheek, not so subtlety looking at Maya afterwards to see if she had noticed. (She would every time). Riley was acting like a jealous girlfriend and Maya was beginning to take notice of her passive behavior towards her.

"Is Riley okay," Maya asked Lucas, faxing some papers while he shredded some beside her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, biting her lip and trying to form the right words, "She used to always smile and talk to me, and now she doesn't. And whenever we talk, she always shows up."

They both looked behind their shoulders and saw her staring at them from her desk, before her eyes went wide and she looked back at her computer screen.

"See what I mean," Maya told him through gritted teeth. "Something is up with her and I think you should talk to her. If I did something, I can apologize."

"You didn't do anything," Lucas tried to reassure her, giving her a sideways smile. She hadn't done anything, not intentionally. But he knew that ever since he had confided to Riley about his past with Maya, her views about her had changed. Maya, however, didn't know that. "I'll talk to her."

She thanked him and sat back at her desk to continue his work. When he was done shredding papers, he turned and saw that Riley had moved from her desk to the empty meeting room. She was sitting on a chair, fiddling with her fingers while she looked out the window at the rainy weather.

"Hey," he said quietly, sitting down on the chair next her. "Are you okay?"

He put his hand over hers, but she quickly pulled away, still not looking at him. A single tear fell from her eye down to her cheek and he he noticed that her lips were puckering, probably from her biting the inside of her cheek. It was quiet with only the sound of the people working in the backgrounds to drown out the silence. He almost spoke up again but she turned to face him, looking angrier than sad.

"Do you still have feelings for her?"

And he knew there was no point in lying to her because she knew. She wasn't asking a yes or no question, she was asking for confirmation. He knew she had known for a while, that that was the reason she always stared at Maya for far too long, that she would always come up with excuses for why they couldn't go out with her. Riley may have been naive at times, but even she wasn't that oblivious.

"Yes."

And instead of breaking up with him, she calmly stood up and started to walk out of the meeting room, turning over her shoulder and stating matter-of-factly, "We'll talk about this later."

* * *

"Wake up, Lucas."

He opened his eyes to see Maya crouched down in front of him, her eyes filled with concerned as she shook his shoulders to wake him up.

"Are you okay," she asked him, her voice coming out more worrisome than he expected it to. He nodded and rose slowly to sit up in his chair, rubbing his eyes to try and adjust to the fluorescent light from waking up.

"Are you sure? You've been asleep for a good hour or so," she continued, putting her hand to his forehead to check for a fever. He nodded again and let out an involuntary yawn. Seeing that Riley was still sitting at her on a phone call, he nudged his head towards the direction of the break room, trying to tell Maya to follow him. She got the gist and walked behind him to the room so he could explain what was going on.

"Riley and I have been having...problems," Lucas hesitated, grabbing some change from his pockets so he could buy an energy bar from the vending machine. "And she's been calling me every night for the past few nights to stay up and talk about them, and I'm just tired."

"Tired from not sleeping or tired of your problems with Riley?"

He grabbed his snack and sat at the table with Maya, thinking about the correct answer.

"Both, I think," he said finally, tearing off the wrapper and taking a bite of the energy bar. Maya had her hands folded on the table, twiddling her thumbs while she tried to form a proper response.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Seriously?"

"We're friends! I'm good at advice," she exclaimed offended, her arms now crossed in front of her as she leaned back in her chair.

"I know we are, but do you really think that would be a good idea?"

"It's always good to talk to your problems. It's not healthy to keep things bottled up."

He sighed and leaned forward in his chair, telling Maya about how Riley had been mad at first that he didn't want to move in with her because he thought it was too soon. Then he explained the "I love you" situation, and how he didn't feel ready to say it back, leaving out of course, how she knew about his past with Maya. Everything about their relationship felt like a race he was running with her and she was far ahead of him, going towards the finish line, but he was still behind. He told her how he had to be gentle with Riley, that she got hurt easily, and he didn't know how to go forward in the relationship.

"Honestly," Maya said, biting her lip, "I think you should go easy on her. You're her first relationship since she was in high school, and she just...she loves you. You should talk to her and understand where she's coming from."

Lucas stared at her, still not believing that Maya had taken her side. She had the perfect opportunity to be selfish if she wanted to be, and tell him to break up with Riley, to tell him he was completely right. But she was sitting right in front of him, encouraging him to mend things with his girlfriend.

"Don't give up on her too easily," she added, her lips hardly curling up into a smile. He had heard those words before from Zay in reference to Maya, and now he was hearing them from Maya in reference to Riley. The first time it had been a small crack of hope, proof that at least someone believed he had a chance with Maya. Those words coming from Maya's mouth however, didn't feel the same at all.

He said his thank you and left to go find Riley, determined to fix his relationship now that he knew although he had feelings for Maya, she didn't have any for him. And that was exactly what he told her. He apologized and kissed her and told her he hadn't been a good boyfriend since they'd moved to New York. He told her his friendship with Maya was simply that: friendship. He even told her she had been the one to encourage he fix things.

"Really," she smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

"Really," he replied, trying to ignoring the piercing pain in his heart.

She told him she forgave him and then kissed him quickly, telling him she was going to go apologize to Maya and thank her for helping them. Riley returned back to her desk quickly, throwing him a big smile and two thumbs as she made her way past him.

Maya didn't return back to her desk until about twenty minutes after that, avoiding eye contact with anyone as she quietly slipped into her chair. He thought that maybe she had just finished crying, her eyes slightly red and cheeks glowing a bit, but he didn't ask her about it. He wouldn't have known what to say.

* * *

The announcement of Darby's wedding came unexpectedly to everyone. What was even more unexpected was how soon it was going to happen. She had been dating Yogi for a long time, always taking things slow, so when she handed out invitations to everyone in the office with a date set for the following weekend, everyone was left a little surprised.

Nonetheless, they all gathered that sunny Saturday evening inside a packed banquet hall, cringing at the particularly bad wedding band they had hired and choking down the reception food. Lucas was never a huge fan of weddings. He hated dressing up, the awful music, the cliché speeches: everything. And now that he was spending a weekend with the people he worked with, he hated it even more.

Still, Riley was excited by it all, eagerly holding his hand and trying to drag him to the dance floor with her, something he refused to do. She spent the entirety of ten songs dancing to the covers the band were playing before slumping into the chair next to him, asking him to bring her a drink.

He obliged, making his way to the bar where he saw Maya slouched over the counter with her chin in the palm of her hand, waiting for her drink. She was wearing a satin dress that fell off her shoulders and hit at her knees, something completely different from the only other dress he had ever seen her in from when they had gone to the art museum. He smiled to himself as the memory of the night went through his head.

"So are you going to go out there and show everybody what a real dancer looks like," he asked her, waiting for the bartender to give Maya her drink so he could order Riley's.

"I'm such a bad dancer," Maya groaned, putting her drink to her head.

"I know, and it's really cute."

She looked up at him and bit her lips, a small blush playing at her cheeks. She was always so effortlessly beautiful. He was trying his best to get over Maya, but she was making it difficult for him.

"I think I'll save myself the embarrassment and sit it out," she replied, taking a sip from her drink, before looking around and leaning in to whisper, "Josh is here, by the way."

His eyes bulged at that piece of information, immediately looking around the room to see if he could see him. He had forgotten that Josh was close friends with Yogi, something he was now wishing would have stayed forgotten. After looking around some more, he spotted Josh in the corner of the room near the cake, looking in his direction before turning away to talk to someone near by.

"I should be getting back to Riley," Lucas told Maya, getting the drink he had ordered, "but if you need anything, let me know."

Maya nodded and gave him a crooked smile, letting him leave back to his table. From his spot he saw Maya take a final sip of her drink before going back to sit at her table, looking sad the entire time.

Riley somehow persuaded him to go dance with her when a slow song started playing. She had her head rested on the crook of his neck and he had his arms around her waist. Dancing with her like that made him feel like a teenager dancing at prom.

He looked up and saw Maya, still sitting at her table and staring at them, a solemn look on her face. After making eye contact with her, she blinked and looked away, getting up from her spot and leaving. That was when he saw Josh approach her at the door and begin a conversation. It felt like a heartstring snapped.

Then he saw her smile at something he said. Another snap.

And she went back to her table to grab her coat and purse before going back to Josh, holding his hand as he led them outside.

Every single one- snap.

* * *

When he saw Josh come into the office to pick up Maya for lunch, he almost let his fingers slip through the paper shredder from being so distracted. The one thing he hadn't missed seeing was Josh walking up to Maya with that smug smile on his face, saying "Hi babe" as he glanced up from his cell phone, and then Maya pulling his head down towards her to kiss him. He also hadn't missed Josh telling him, "Hey, Friar. I'll bring her back here a few", with a simple head nod before walking out holding hands with Maya. Yet, there they were, back in the same old routine as if no time, nothing, had passed.

"Is it weird being back together," Missy asked Maya in the kitchen. Lucas was making himself a cup of coffee and was trying to finish quickly so he wouldn't have to overhear. Every day for the past couple of weeks he had been hearing Maya talking to Josh on the phone, giggling like a teenager talking to her boyfriend in secret. He saw them together in the morning when he step into the office building and every evening in the parking lot when he would pick her up from work. He already had enough of Josh, and Maya had just recently reconciled with him.

"No, I don't think it's weird. I think it's a sign of maturity," Maya smiled, to which Lucas scoffed at, before silently cursing himself for what he had done.

"I'm sorry, Lucas, do you have something to say," Maya asked, her tone of voice and narrowed eyes almost challenging him to speak.

"No, nothing at all," Lucas shrugged his head, his lips turned upwards into a dramatic smile as he grabbed his cup of coffee and pushed the door open to the main room with his back.

He saw Maya slowly take steps towards him, her arms at her sides and eyebrows still raised. He quickened his pace as he walked towards his desk, placing the hot mug on the surface, knowing Maya well enough to know she wasn't going to let him go without explaining.

"Explain yourself."

"I have work to do," he said, about to sit on his chair before she pulled it away from him, causing him to hit the floor with a loud thud. Everyone in the office turned to their direction to see what the noise had been, unconcerned once they saw it was just him.

"Shit, Maya," he cursed, holding on to the edge of the desk to help himself stand back up.

"Explain yourself," she repeated again. "Do you have any critiques you'd like to share about my relationship?"

"Does it matter if I do?"

"What do you mean by that," she asked, her voice sounding more protective, just like it always did when she suspected she was going to hear something she wasn't going to like.

"Nothing," he said quietly, grabbing papers from his desk and walking towards the printer.

"Lucas."

She put her fingers over the buttons of the machine so he wouldn't be able to make copies before he talked to her. She looked at him with a different expression, a sadder look in those emerald green eyes that left him dizzy just at the thought.

"You broke up with Josh for a reason, and you said that you're with him again because it's the 'mature' thing to do, and it's not. It's a dumb idea, and you're the smartest person I know, so I don't know why you think this is right."

She didn't say anything. She simply looked at him with watering eyes and a slowly reddening face, before breathing in.

"Well, this is my relationship. And if you can't be happy for me," she paused, slowly taking her hand off the buttons of the machine, "maybe you're not as good of a friend as I thought you were."

She walked away from and back to the kitchen, pushing the door open so hard that it slammed into the wall. Again everyone in the office looked to the direction of the noise, except this time before turning back to their computer screens, they looked at Lucas.

He tried to avoid the terribly hidden murmurs of the office and didn't look at anyone's face for the rest of the day.

That night Riley asked him about what had happened at work and he explained that he couldn't understand why Maya was with Josh again.

"I think maybe she just doesn't want to be lonely anymore," Riley suggested, slipping herself under the covers of Lucas's bed.

And Lucas understood.

He understood exactly.

* * *

"Hey Friar," was the last thing Lucas heard being shouted at him before he saw Josh coming towards him with his hands coiled up in fists ready to punch.

Just as quickly however, he saw a spray of mist being thrown into Josh's face, some of it getting into his eyes and making it easily recognizable as pepper spray.

"Maya, call security," he heard Farkle say firmly from the side, before being swept away by Riley to go to the bathroom to wash his eyes.

He had just been talking to Riley at his desk, making plans to watch a movie and grab some dinner now that the work day was coming to a close. His back was turned away from the door, and when he heard Josh's voice calling his name, he turned to see his face like he never had before. His eyes seemed almost dangers and his teeth were gritted, his stance strong as he practically hurled towards him. Lucas didn't even have time to react, didn't have time to ask questions or look to Maya for clarification about what this was about, before Farkle sprayed Josh with pepper spray.

He saved him, he knew that. The Lucas before, the one that got into fights, was also always the one that started them and he was always prepared, one step ahead of the other person. But that had been a long time and with Josh lunging at him unexpectedly, he would have easily been defeated.

"What was that all about," Riley yelled, putting his head under the sink of the bathroom to help rinse out his eyes. Luckily, it wasn't that bad, although there was a slight sting.

"I don't know," he yelled back, still trying to wrap his head around the events that had happened. He hadn't even spoke to Maya since a few days prior when they had gotten into their argument, if he could even call it that. Now Josh was trying to kill him for whatever reason, and Farkle, of all people, was the only reason he didn't.

Riley stomped out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, bringing him a glass of milk. "Put this in your eyes, it'll hurt the sting," she said, a little quieter that time, but her voice still sounding angry. She told him she would wait for him in the car and left him alone to help himself.

When he walked out of the bathroom, Maya was still there, along with Farkle and a police officer who was jotting down notes. She saw Maya with her things ready and standing towards the side, obviously waiting for him. Before he could get to her Lucas was asked by the police if he wanted to press charges against Josh for attempted assault, but he looked at Maya and the embarrassment in her face, and replied that he didn't. With that, the police officer left the building, stating he would keep the record on file regardless.

Lucas grabbed his briefcase and his coat from his desk, looking over at Farkle who was doing the same. For years, they had constantly pestered each other and for whatever reason, Farkle came to his defense without hesitation. He saved him before Lucas even thought about saving himself.

"Hey Farkle," Lucas spoke, waiting for Farkle to look up.

"Hmm," he replied, unconcerned and still rummaging through his things.

"Farkle," he said again, this time getting him to stop and look at him, "Thank you for saving me. You didn't have to do that and you did, and I appreciate it."

"Actually, I did have to do it. As a good citizen, I couldn't just stand by and bear witness to a crime. I had pepper spray. I used it. No big deal."

He shrugged and got his things before striding out of the office, wishing Maya a goodnight and leaving her and Lucas alone in the office.

"Hey," Maya said softly, her voice shaky as she approached him.

"What happened," Lucas asked, desperately needing a response from her.

"I'm sorry," she responded, her lip quivering as she began to cry. He wanted to hold her, to tell her it was fine, that he forgave her. He didn't even know what she had done, but even he knew he would forgive her 100 times again and again, each one sincerer than the last. Because she was Maya and he was Lucas and there was nothing she could do that he wouldn't forgive.

"I, umm," she breathed, wiping away the tears from her cheeks, "I told Josh last night about how we kissed before the wedding, before you left to Pittsburgh. I told him we needed to be honest if we wanted the relationship to work this time and he got so mad he flipped over the table at the restaurant. So I broke up with him."

She was in broken sobs now and Lucas was simply standing there in stunned silence. He didn't know what to do or say to that. The entire thing had been his fault. He had been the one to kiss her, to intervene in a relationship even though he knew it was wrong. Josh wanting to kill him was completely understandable now because although he stood by his belief that Josh was not the right person for Maya, that didn't give him the right to kiss her.

"You were right. I was so stupid for wanting to be with Josh again."

He walked towards her and she pressed her face into his chest as she sobbed and he rested his head on top of hers, caressing her hair to try and calm her down. After a while, once her broken "sorry" 's in between sobs and clinging onto his shirt stopped, she looked up at him and he wiped away at her tears with her thumbs. She smiled a bit at that and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Riley's waiting for me in the car, so I should go," he told her, "Will you be okay?"

She nodded and told him to go, that she would be fine, that she would always be fine. He grabbed his things and walked to the car, his mind shifting from Maya to Farkle, who had been nonchalant about saving him. Farkle said that he was just being a good citizen, but it meant more to Lucas, especially now that he knew why exactly the event had happened. There had to be some way for him to return the favor. Maybe he could buy him some cool Star Wars merchandise or cut back on the pranks for a while. It didn't seem enough though, not for a gesture so important.

The next day Lucas still wasn't sure how he was going to approach Farkle, but when he turned the corner and saw him and Isadora kissing in front of the elevators, both of them completely lost in each other, he knew.

Farkle had saved his life, and now Lucas was going to keep his secret.

* * *

Zay decided it was time for another day of team building exercises, so he called the day off from work, rented a bus, and packed everyone in there to go to the beach. Lucas was excited for a day to get away from the office and just relax on the beach with Riley. Things had been weird with her, and with Maya, again, so a day by the water instead of sitting in front of a computer seemed perfect.

When they arrived, the sun was shining down on them and the humid air was making everyone sticky. He quickly took off his t-shirt, discarding it to the side so that he was only in his swim trunks. When he looked up he noticed Maya staring at him, her eyes roaming his chest and stomach while she absentmindedly chewed on her pen. It wasn't until Riley "accidentally" bumped her with her shoulder on her way of walking to Lucas that she realized what she was doing, blushed, and looked away.

She sat down on her towel, pen and notepad ready in her hand to take notes, trying not to look at Lucas who was now laughing at her embarrassment. Zay had told her she couldn't participate because she had to observe carefully and jot down everything, absolutely everything, that happened that day. Lucas was a little disappointed, having hoped that Maya would be on his team for the activities, but at least she was there.

The first activity Zay had planned was volleyball and much to Lucas's surprise and disappointment, Riley was a terrible teammate. Her long, lanky legs were not as much of an advantage as he originally thought they were going to be and instead she kept tumbling down in the sand. His other teammates, Charlie and Missy, were not the least bit interested into the game, leaving Lucas to play for himself. Inevitably, he lost to Farkle's team, who were celebrating by dancing in victory and shouting profanities at them.

He looked to where Maya was sitting on the side, her fingers in the shape of an "L" on her forehead as she bobbed her head from side to side to mock his loss. He smiled at her and was about to go over to kick sand in her face, or ask her if she thought him losing was funny, or something else he'd come up with when he got there, but Riley stopped him. She pulled him down by his neck and kissed him firmly on the lips, as if she wanted to prove something.

"I'll play better on the next activity, babe" she smiled, kissing him one more for extra measure. It was her way of telling him that she was still cautious of Maya, and he didn't want to risk anything. So he tried his best not to look at her or stand near her or talk to her. He focused on Riley and his team through the egg-spoon race and the water balloon fight and would have made it to through the hot dog eating contest. That was until Zay announced that the entire point of all their challenges was because he would probably be leaving to work at the corporate level and he wanted to see who would be best as regional manager when he left.

"You're leaving," Farkle asked, sounding heartbroken.

"Well, they're interviewing other people, but I'm by far the most qualified, so yes, probably," Zay replied, his tone of voice sounding as confident as ever.

That was when Lucas looked at Maya.

Because years ago they had discussed how he would be a definite contender for a job at corporate. He got along with the CEO, had a nice sales record, and according to Maya, he was too good to simply settle as a salesman. Now that a job had opened up, he couldn't let the opportunity pass.

After lunch, he stepped away from the group a bit, calling the corporate branch in New Jersey to arrange an interview for the position in the next few days. Riley had decided she wanted to try and apply for the position, too, grabbing the cell phone from Lucas when he was done to schedule her interview.

For the rest of the day, neither of them was trying hard, instead they watched as Farkle and Charlie competed against each other, trying to win Zay's attention. Their rivalry seemed to halt however when Zay announced the final challenge would be a coal walk. He brought some men who had created a makeshift coal walk, fire burning them and waiting anxiously for someone to walk across.

"Is no one going to do it," Zay asked disappointed, taunting them in a way to make them seem like they were overreacting.

"Why don't you do it first," asked Lucas, teasing him now, knowing that there was no way Zay would do it. As much as he liked to pretend he was invincible, he wasn't, and Lucas loved when he was able to get Zay flustered over the small things.

"I'll do it," spoke up Maya, slipping off her shoes, and completely ready to participate. Lucas wasn't surprised. She was the most fearless person in the office by all accounts, so why wouldn't she be the first, and probably only one, to do the coal walk?

"Can't let you do that," Zay stopped her, putting his arm across her chest before she stepped on the hot rocks, "You're not in the running for manager."

"But I want to try-."

"No," he stopped her again.

He waited for a while, they all did, just standing and waiting for someone to volunteer so that they could go home. They had been on the beach for hours, the sky was black without a single star in a sight, but Zay said he wouldn't leave until a person really impressed him. Finally, he gave up on the coal walk and ushered them far away to the side, circling them around him and calling for a "battle of the jokes." Whoever said the best one, would more than likely get his recommendation for regional manager.

They all sat around, hearing Farkle and Charlie tell jokes, occasionally Isadora when she thought she had a funny one she remembered. It wasn't until Maya came running up to the circle that they really started paying attention to what was being said.

"I need to say something. I've been trying to be more honest lately, and I just, I have something to say. I just did the coal walk. And no one else did it. And you all, you all look down on me because I'm the receptionist, just the receptionist, but I just walked through fire. Wow I feel really good."

Lucas smiled at everything she was saying. She was so full of adrenaline and life, something he hadn't seen in her for a while. He was thinking about how happy he was to see her so passionate and honest, when she suddenly stopped looking around the circle, and looked at him- just at him. His smile faltered.

"Lucas, I called off my wedding because of you. There were a lot of reasons I called off my wedding, but none of them mattered before I met you. I called it off for _you_ , and you left. And now you're back, but it still feels like you're gone. I miss you. I miss us."

"You were my best friend before you went to Pittsburgh and now you're back and you're with someone else and that's fine. That's not even the point I'm trying to make, I just, I miss having fun with you."

"Okay," she breathed, finally looking back at everyone around the circle, "I am going to go put my feet in water because they're starting to burn."

She jogged off to the shore to put her feet in the cold water, leaving everyone behind to stare at Lucas. No one was saying anything. It was as if they were afraid to. Even Riley who was sitting right beside him and would usually say something, anything, was simply staring at him.

Was he supposed to say something, anything? The girl he had been in love with, and maybe, probably, still was in love with had just confessed to him and their entire workplace that he was the reason for her broken engagement. Him. When Zay had first told him that she had cancelled her wedding, the thought of him being the reason had quickly entered and exited his mind. He thought it had been impossible. But now she had just confirmed it, publicly.

Where were they supposed to go from here?

He inhaled, giving the circle that kind of smile that made a person feel sorry, a lopsided breathy smile. Slowly he rose from the ground and made his way towards Maya, who had her back turned to the group, feet away from them.

"How are your feet," he asked, standing next to her and letting his feet touch and untouch the waves that were crashing.

"Well done, I would say," she joked, looking at him instead of out into the distance.

"I'm sorry, about our friendship. I don't know what's wrong it's like...I left Pittsburgh, but I still haven't really come back to New York."

She nodded once.

"Well I wish you would."

* * *

Lucas walked into the office the day before his big interview at corporate with a new haircut and brand new suit. Riley had told him previously that he needed to do something about his hair so it would look like he cared about his appearance, even if he didn't.

He saw Maya gawk at him from her desk when he walked in, the phone on her ear but the person on the other line clearly forgotten. He smirked when it wasn't until the recipient on the phone started to practically scream at her that she remembered the call and looked away from him. It had been a few days since the beach trip and things weren't awkward between them, thankfully, but now it seemed that everyone was always watching.

"Hey Maya, what do you think about Lucas's haircut," asked Missy, some obvious teasing in her tone.

She looked right at Lucas, who was looking right back at her, and smiled. "I think it looks great."

"Thanks, Maya," he said, trying to keep his voice calm and telling himself not to blush to bring more attention to him. Riley watched the exchange from afar, making her way over to Lucas and sliding her arm over his shoulders. On her face was a jealous smirk that reached all the way to her eyes.

"Hey," she said sweetly, bringing her lips down so they brushed against his ear. "I was thinking we could ask Zay if we could leave early. That way we can go to New Jersey, spend the night there so we won't have to leave early for our interview tomorrow?"

Lucas knew Riley was feeling more jealous and self conscious as ever since the beach. Honestly, he didn't blame her. Maya's public declaration had been, he imagined, embarrassing and uncomfortable for her. And if that wasn't enough, the office was split up into teams, rooting for either girl, and Riley was very aware of this. They had even asked Lucas directly who he liked more, an answer he knew clearly, but couldn't tell.

Because of this, Lucas obliged and went to Zay's office, asking him for the day off for him and Riley.

"Hmm, I don't know," he said, contemplating the question, "I'm on Team Maya and if I let you guys leave early, shit might go down that messes with that."

"Zay!"

"Okay," he said, his hands up in defeat and a smile tugging at his lips. Lucas went back to Riley to let her know they had permission to leave early, feeling warm when she looked at him happily, like he was her hero.

After their lunch break, it was decided that they would leave to beat the traffic. They grabbed their things, making sure they had everything in their briefcases for their interviews.

"Wish us luck," called out Riley, beaming as the entire office erupted into an unsynchronized chorus of "good luck."

"Hey, Lucas. Wait," Maya called, standing up from her desk to hand Lucas a file folder with the copies of sales records and performance evaluations he had asked her to make. He smiled gratefully at her, taking the folder from her hands and trying to ignore the way his hand tingled from brushing his fingers with hers.

"Good luck," she whispered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you," he whispered back, walking out the door to join Riley who was already waiting out in the hall for him.

In New Jersey, they spent the entire day walking around the streets, stopping by into little shops and eating at different food carts on the streets. They were having a fun time, distracting each other from the nervousness of their interview tomorrow. For either of them to get it would be a big deal: a fancy new title, a better pay, and above all, a necessary move to New Jersey. It wasn't until they were heading back to their hotel for the night that Riley brought it up.

"So, what's going to happen when I get this job," she asked, crossing her arms as they walked down the empty pavement together.

"You mean when I get the job," he joked.

"Okay," she said, going along with him, "If you get the job, I would move here with you. Would you move here for me?"

He stayed quiet as they continued walking. He knew the answer, but he didn't want to say it aloud. By the way she was staring at him with a slightly irritated glance, it was obvious she knew, too.

"We can't stay in New York," she spoke up, right before they entered the hotel building. She grabbed his hand to stop him from walking. "I know you want to, but there can't be a future for us there, and you know why."

"I know," he said softly, keeping her hand in his as they walked inside and to their room.

He thought of their conversation the entire night, looking over to her on the other side of the bed sound asleep. He thought of their conversation the next morning, looking over at her sitting on the chair beside him as they waited their individual interviews with the CEO of the company. He was still thinking about it when she was finished with her interview and he was about to go into his.

She told him that she was going to take a cab and go visit her uncle's house for lunch, and left him the address so that he could pick her up when it was done and he could join them.

"Good luck," she smiled, placing a chaste kiss on his cheek and grabbing her purse to leave.

He walked into the office of the CEO, a kind man he had met several times previously and had an easygoing relationship with. For that reason, Lucas wasn't nervous about the interview itself. He was more nervous about the possible aftermath of it. He would either get the job and say goodbye to Maya forever so that he could commit to Riley or he would stay in New York with Maya and risk his relationship with Riley.

Lucas tried to focus on the interview, smiling throughout all his answers and even making some jokes. Everything seemed to be going perfect, and it was becoming evident which outcome would more than likely occur. The CEO asked for copies of his sales records from the previous quarter and Lucas reached into his file folder to retrieve them for him.

Slipping out of his folder and onto the floor, however, was a yellow sticky note. He picked it up and his pulse immediately began to race faster. On the sticky note, it was a caricature of him with his new suit and haircut, but still drawn on him were cowboy boots. Underneath the picture it read, "Good luck, partner. Don't forget about the little people when you leave. -Maya."

He found himself staring at it, wondering when Maya had found the time to draw this for him. Still holding it tight in his hands, he handed the copies of his sales records to the CEO with his other hand.

"So, what do you think you'll miss most about leaving New York," the man asked, looking pleased with the papers Lucas had handed him.

Lucas looked down at his sticky note, Maya's art giving him an overwhelming feeling he couldn't quite decipher.

"The friendships," he answered solemnly.

"Okay, well, the person we hire is going to be here for a long time. With that in mind, where do yourself in ten years?"

And without a second thought, Lucas told the CEO to withdraw his name from consideration for the position. Because Lucas knew exactly where he saw himself in ten years. He knew exactly where he wanted to be and it was not with Riley Matthews. He wanted to be with the same girl he had wanted to be with for the past few years, the only one who truly understood him, who was able to change his bad day into a good one just at the thought of her smile, the one who had changed his entire life with just one piece of paper. He wanted Maya Hart, he was always going to want to Maya Hart, and the world had made him wait long enough.

Lucas walked to his car, his heart racing in his chest as he imagined sounds of triumph resounding through his ears. He got out his phone and called Riley, who answered the phone on the second ring.

"Hi! How was the interview," she answered.

"I withdrew my application," he told her bluntly, still feeling exhilarated,

"Why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry, Riley, but I don't want this. I don't want this job, or New Jersey, or...you."

"Excuse me," her voice vibrated the phone.

"I'm sorry, but you have to have known...This never felt right- us. And I'm sorry I wasted your time, really. I didn't want to break up with you like this, but I have to leave now. I hope that your uncle can give you a ride back to New York."

"Where are you going," she asked, her voice rising with every word. But he didn't answer her. He simply hung up the phone, and smiled.

He knew exactly where he was going.

He was going to get the girl.

Lucas drove straight ahead to New York, his confidence, his assurance of his feelings for Maya, of his love for her, never once faltering.

By the time he arrived at the office, it had been a few minutes after closing time, but he saw Maya's car still parked and went straight inside, to the fourth floor in the building, to the office on the right.

Through the clear door into the office, he saw Maya still at her desk, slowly putting her things away into her bag.

He grabbed the door handle and opened it, more than ready for whatever would happen next with Maya. He had been ready for years.

She looked at him as he walked directly to her, her heart shattering, heart mending irises glittering at the sight of him.

"Are you free tonight?"

There was a pause before a smile spread across her face.

"Yes."

"Good. Then it's a date."

* * *

 **A/N: This is the longest fic I've ever written and the first time I've ever written based off something else, so I apologize if it's bad. The Office (US version) is one of, if not my favorite TV show, and I hope that if you haven't seen it, this makes you want to somehow.**

 **(Even if this fic is bad go watch it anyways, it's amazing.)**


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